Bringing a New Comedy to the Stage

The world premiere of Gooseberry Lane by Jim Danek

Written by Jordan Matt-Zeitler

There is something special about producing a play audiences already know and love. There is also something completely different—and incredibly exciting—about bringing a brand-new story to the stage for the very first time.

This September, Harbor Theatrics has the privilege of presenting the world premiere of Gooseberry Lane, a new comedy by St. Louis playwright Jim Danek. When the curtain rises, our audiences won’t be watching Harbor’s interpretation of a familiar script. They will be among the first people anywhere to meet these characters, hear their stories, and discover every surprise waiting along Gooseberry Lane.

That is both thrilling and a little terrifying.

Starting with a Blank Page

When you produce an established play, there is usually a roadmap. Other theatres have staged it. Directors can research previous productions. Actors may already know the characters, and audiences often arrive with certain expectations.

A world premiere comes without any of that history.

The script gives us the foundation, but everything else must be discovered together. The director, actors, designers, and production team are creating the first fully realized version of this world. Every character choice, comic pause, relationship, costume, prop, and piece of scenery helps establish how the play will live beyond the page.

There is freedom in that process, but there is also responsibility. We aren’t simply producing a new play. We are helping introduce it to the world.

Discovering the Comedy

Comedy may look effortless from the audience, but anyone who has worked on one knows how precise it can be.

A pause that lasts one second too long can change a moment completely. A reaction from across the stage can earn a bigger laugh than the line that came before it. Sometimes the funniest moments are discovered accidentally in rehearsal. Other times, something that seemed hilarious on the page has to be adjusted once actors are moving through the scene.

That discovery is one of the great joys of developing a new comedy.

Because Jim’s work has never been fully staged before, our cast has been able to explore the material without feeling obligated to repeat what someone else has already done. They are building these characters from the ground up, finding the relationships beneath the jokes and the truth that makes the comedy work.

The goal is never simply to deliver punchlines. The best comedy comes from people who genuinely want something, believe in what they are doing, and make increasingly questionable decisions while trying to get it.

That is where the fun begins.

Working with a Living Playwright

Producing a new play also gives us something that most theatres don’t have when working on a classic: access to the playwright.

The rehearsal room becomes part of the play’s continuing development. Questions can be asked. Unclear moments can be explored. Jim can hear how the dialogue sounds when spoken by actors and see how the story changes once it is placed on its feet.

That doesn’t mean rewriting the play every time someone has a new idea. It means creating a collaborative environment where everyone is working toward the strongest version of the story.

For a playwright, handing a new script to a theatre requires an enormous amount of trust. The words may have lived privately on a page for months or even years. Suddenly, actors are speaking them aloud. Designers are giving the world a physical shape. An audience is preparing to respond in real time.

We are grateful to Jim for trusting Harbor Theatrics with that first journey.

Why New Work Matters

Community theatre has an important responsibility to preserve and celebrate the plays audiences already treasure. But we must also help create the stories that audiences may treasure tomorrow.

Every beloved play was once an unknown script.

At some point, a theatre had to take the chance. A director had to see its potential. Actors had to become the first people to inhabit its characters. An audience had to walk through the doors without already knowing exactly what it was going to see.

Producing new work gives playwrights an opportunity to grow, gives artists the freedom to create without comparison, and gives audiences the rare experience of witnessing something genuinely new.

It also allows theatre to remain alive. Our stages should not exist only as museums for stories that have already been told. They should be places where new voices are welcomed, new ideas are tested, and new theatrical traditions can begin.

That commitment will continue throughout Harbor’s inaugural season, especially through the Safe Harbor Play Festival and our New Musical Initiative. Developing new work isn’t a side project for us. It is an important part of the company we want to become.

Be Part of the First Audience

A world premiere only happens once.

Years from now, Gooseberry Lane may be produced by other theatres with different actors, directors, and designs. Those artists will bring their own ideas to the story. But this cast and creative team will always be the first—and the people sitting in the audience this September will be the first to laugh, react, and take the journey with them.

Harbor Theatrics is proud to begin its inaugural season with a new comedy by a local playwright. It feels like exactly the right way to introduce who we are: a company rooted in community, willing to take chances, and committed to creating a place where new stories can find their audience.

We hope you will join us as we turn Jim Danek’s words into a living, breathing world for the very first time.

Tickets are on sale now. Reserve your seats at www.harbortheatrics.org.

Welcome to Gooseberry Lane.